Vision: To be a supportive transdisciplinary professor who does impactful learning, teaching, and research, using creative methods to bridge the gap between science, the environment, and communities. I want to do this because responding to health inequity starts with how we produce knowledge and whose voices are prioritised. I do this because I believe in my vision and I have experience as a community arts-based researcher whose strengths lie in methodological innovation and knowledge translation. The following sentiment guides my approach to my work: "Until the lions have their historians, tales of hunting will always glorify the hunter." - African Proverb.

I am a transdisciplinary researcher with a PhD in both Social Science (KU Leuven) and Public Health (Stellenbosch University), which VLIR-UOS supported. I am a 2023 Springer Nature Inclusive Health Research Awardee and a 2023 Cochrane Thomas Chalmers Awardee. I am a 2024 fellow of Gilead Sciences as well as of Microsoft AI & Society. I have a keen interest in co-creative research within communities, utilising both digital media and primary arts-based methods. My recent work includes co-producing a local and international public art exhibition with IZIKO Museum, and a community-led documentary, More than a Pill, with young women perinatally infected with HIV in the Cape Flats.  

Professor Michelle Andipatin holds a PHD in Psychology and is currently the Deputy Dean of Research in the Faculty of Community and Health Sciences at the University of the Western Cape. She has a broad array of research interests that include but are not limited to: Women’s reproductive health, men and masculinities, alternative healing modalities, mental health and well-being, philosophical issues in science and research methodologies. Understanding social impact and the measurement thereof has become an essential interest of hers.

As part of her portfolio, she is spearheading the launch of a new journal called the Journal of Community, Health and Social Sciences. She has been appointed as one of the editors-in-chief of the editorial board. The launch of the research niche in Digital Health is also an exciting venture in which she is instrumental. In addition to her role as Deputy Dean, she has also championed the Centre for Diversity in Psychological Practice since 2015-2023. As part of her Community Engagement, Professor Andipatin chairs the board of the C4HF and is currently a research consultant to the centre. Her aspirations for the C4HF are that it becomes peerless and it becomes a thought leader in its enterprise. 

Ms Fatima Peters is a lecturer in the Department of Psychology. She has worked in the higher education sector for over twelve years. She is a registered counsellor specialising in Ethics, Research Methodology, and Community Psychology and is passionate about human rights, sexuality and gender, higher education, decolonisation, and climate and environmental psychology. 

She has supervised research projects and theses for fourth-year Bachelor of Psychology, Honours, and Master's students. She serves as an external examiner for multiple universities and is a reviewer for numerous journals. Ms Peters was the Level 4 Bachelor of Psychology degree coordinator from 2017 to 2018. She is the current co-ordinator for the second-year level of Psychology, a member of the departmental Community Engagement Committee, and a member of the Quality Assurance Committee in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Venda.

Dominic Vertue joined the OAD in June 2022. He has a background in Social Work and humanitarian assistance, holding a master’s degree in medical social work. Dominic has a passion for people and holds a firm belief that, with support, individuals can overcome their physical, environmental, and mental barriers and positively contribute to their communities. Dominic has several years of experience in public health and involvement with community-based programs to empower vulnerable groups. Within the OAD, Dominic is part of the Astronomy for Mental Health Flagship, and he will explore the role that astronomy can play in mental well-being.

Dr Neziswa Titi, Ph.D (DPsy), is a transdisciplinary scholar-activist in the human, social, and health sciences. A decolonial, Africa-centred, child-centric and feminist outlook contextualises her research praxis. Her work focuses on African psychologies, child sexual violence and trauma, children’s rights, the intersections of violence against women and children, access to services and the development of mental health interventions. Her advocacy includes access to higher education and amplifying young people’s voices, such as youth-led parliamentary advocacy on the RSA Children's Amendment Bill (B18-2020). She is an experienced academic, professional, and civil society organisation leader nationally and internationally with service on the South African National Child Rights Coalition Steering Committee (2020-2022), Psychological Association of South Africa Division of Research and Methodologies (2019-2021), International and Child Rights Partnership Conceptual Interconnections Working Group (2021-2022), University of Cape Town Student Discipline Tribunal of Appeal (2024-06/2028), and the boards of the Western Cape Ministry of Health and Wellness at Lentegeur Psychiatric Hospital (2023 – current) and Childline Western Cape (2021-current).

I am a senior researcher based at the Africa Open Institute for Music Research and Innovation (AOI) in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. My research is situated at the intersection between the arts, health research and creative practice. She undertook training in ethnography, isiZulu, musicology, and film studies, and I have extensive experience using participatory research to understand and address key issues, including HIV, gender inequality, and sexual violence. I am committed to pursuing interdisciplinary, innovative and creative strategies that support social justice and effect positive, community-led change.

Although I am trained in ethnomusicology and film, my day-to-day work involves running participatory projects with youth from low-income settings. I consider myself an ally in this work, and I approach youth participants as experts and as powerful agents of change. I co-facilitate workshops where participants learn to use creative tools, such as film, photography, digital storytelling, and drawing, to investigate and address pertinent issues, including gender-based violence, HIV-drug adherence, and inequality, thereby advancing public engagement and catalysing youth-led social change.

My interdisciplinary academic background is in psychology and public health. Over the last eight years, my research has examined human motivation, decision-making, and the social determinants of adolescent health.

The various roles I've held has been in higher education, with a keen focus on (i) teaching and learning, (ii) student supervision and mentoring, (iii) academic support and development, (iv) research project design, analysis and dissemination as well as (v) project management and leadership.

My contributions in research and leadership has led to the following prestigious accolades: Invited as a member of the South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS), nominated as a Mail & Guardian 2017 Top 200 Young South Africans, being selected as a Mandela Rhodes Scholar, Abe Bailey and Desmond Tutu Emerging Leadership Fellow as well as a Donald J Cohen International Scholar in Child and Adolescent Mental Health. 

I am a research psychologist and Professor of Psychology at the University of Johannesburg (UJ). With over two decades of experience, I have held academic management positions, including Head of Department, Deputy Head of School (University of the Witwatersrand), and Vice-Dean (Research, Postgraduate Studies, and Innovation) in the Faculty of Humanities at UJ. I am also the chairperson of the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Human Development steering committee. My research aims to address environmental and climate change injustices through inclusive, justice-driven and action-oriented research. I write in psychology and environmental health and contribute to the field in three ways: to deepen our understanding of behaviour in environmental action, to strengthen critical methodologies, and to reveal how climate and environmental activism are undermined and enhanced. I have worked on environmental studies that span impact, intervention, activism, and politics. I also aim to empower emerging researchers through my academic leadership roles, focusing on creating enabling and sustainable systems and structures that support academics and postgraduate students to thrive. 

Prof. Karin Hannes is a transdisciplinary scholar specialising in the development of innovative research methods and models to respond to emerging social challenges, with a particular focus on arts-based, place-based, multisensory and futures studies research designs as well as qualitative evidence synthesis as a meta-review technique. Part of her job is to test, evaluate, and improve existing methods and techniques, or to repurpose them for use in multiple study contexts. She currently coordinates the Idiosynchratic Inventors Collective, hosted by research group TRANSFORM in the Faculty of Social Sciences. Her inventors' collective has a strong record in coordinating living labs, both within and outside a university context, to explore new ways of thinking, acting, and being in the world across various fields, including social-behavioural sciences, public health, and the art and design sector. She has a special interest in community-based research praxis in urban spaces and works towards inclusive and sustainable living environments for all. Prof. Hannes collaborates intensively with scholars from the global South and is firmly committed to developing innovative approaches to education and public outreach. She chairs the European Network for Qualitative Inquiry and co-hosts the Institute of the Future. Her theoretical base aligns with posthuman, new materialist, and poststructural thought, as well as critical realism. 

With over 25 years of experience as a relational leadership and process facilitator, social change entrepreneur and strategist, evaluation and learning practitioner, and researcher, I have developed strong competencies in leadership development for social change, critical community development, and process facilitation. Until March 2024, I was a Director of the Africa Centre for HIV/Aids Management (soon to be the Africa Centre for Inclusive Health Management) at Stellenbosch University, where I provided overall strategic leadership and management of the Centre's staff, partnerships, organisational re-visioning, teaching and learning, research, PgDip, MPhil and Doctoral recruitment and admission, community engagement & special projects. In my Sector Lecturer role, I teach postgraduate students, supervise master's and doctoral students, and postgraduate fellows.

My mission is to facilitate and advance the understanding and practice of critical community development, process facilitation towards innovative and systemic social change and the political economy of health. I have designed and delivered creative and interdisciplinary postgraduate programmes, conducted impactful research projects, and facilitated transformational change processes for various organisations and communities. I am also a recipient of the Fellowship Award for outstanding community development and social change work, as well as the Best Master's Degree Thesis award for my policy analysis.

Kim Gush is the Academic Director at FEDISA Fashion School in South Africa, where she leads academic transformation through curriculum design, research strategy, and epistemic critique. Her work is grounded in the sociology of knowledge, drawing on social realism and Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) as decolonial tools to interrogate whose knowledge is legitimised within higher education and why.

Through her current research, Gush investigates how knowledge is structured, valued, and transmitted in creative disciplines, with a particular focus on fashion education in the Global South. LCT offers a framework to expose the power relations embedded in curriculum design, revealing how dominant modes of knowing often mask themselves as neutral, while systematically marginalising others. Her work challenges the assumption that creativity and cultural production sit outside epistemic contestation, instead positioning design as a battleground for knowledge justice.

In an era of growing calls to decolonise education, her research pushes beyond symbolic inclusion, advocating for structural transformation in how disciplines define expertise, cultivate legitimacy, and imagine futures. While rooted in fashion, her inquiry addresses a broader crisis in education: how to create space for alternative ways of knowing, not as add-ons to existing systems, but as a fundamental reevaluation of the systems themselves.

Maseti is a dedicated advocate for change in higher education, with a strong commitment to empowering black women in academia. Recognising the unique challenges that arise from operating in environments where their presence is often unexpected, Maseti channels her experiences into a broader mission to promote safety and happiness for black women. She believes in actively creating a world where these ideals can be realised, which fuels her motivation and daily pursuits.

Her passion extends beyond her career aspirations; Maseti is deeply invested in the growth and development of her peers and fellow academics. She envisions a reformed culture within higher education that supports young black women—both students and scholars—by addressing the barriers they face due to gender and race. Maseti advocates for vital discussions about race and institutional transformation, believing that fostering changed attitudes will lead to improved lived experiences for marginalised individuals in academia. Through her work, she aspires to create inclusive environments that celebrate diversity and promote equity in higher education.

Prof. Angelina Maphula is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychology, with over 11 years of experience in higher education. Specialising in Clinical Psychology, she has been registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) since 2006. Prof. Maphula has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals, including notable works on early childhood cognitive development and growth outcomes. She has supervised Honours, Master's, and PhD students and serves as Vice Chairperson of the Division for Research and Methodology of the Psychological Society of South Africa (PsySSA). Additionally, she is a member of the Human and Clinical Trials Research Ethics Committee at the University of Venda and actively contributes to clinical supervision. Prof. Maphula is an external examiner and reviewer for various journals and is recognised for her presentations in academic and community settings, discussing topics related to social, health, and life skills.

Dr Mercy D. Mushwana is a lecturer in the Department of Psychology at the University of Venda, specialising in research methods and mentoring Master’s and Honours students. She has previously served as the Journal Manager for SAHARA (Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS Research Alliance) and has conducted research at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). Her research interests include offender rehabilitation, obesity and eating behaviour, mental health promotion, and public health strategies. Dr. Mushwana has authored several peer-reviewed articles, notably co-authoring “People’s Perceptions Towards Homosexuality in South African Rural Communities.” Through her academic role, Dr. Mushwana guides students in the research process and emphasises rigorous methodological training. Her work aims to promote public health, social justice, and rehabilitation in marginalised and rural South African communities.